Conventionally, as a battery locking mechanism for an electronic apparatus, such a battery locking mechanism as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-312214 is known.
In particular, according to the battery locking mechanism, a battery is mounted on the back surface side of an electronic apparatus (video camera), and in this state, the battery is engaged and locked by a locking member which projects on the battery mounting surface. Further, the battery locking mechanism is structured such that an unlocking mechanism of the pushbutton type is provided alongside the locking member, and when the unlocking member is depressed, the locking member is disengaged from the battery, and consequently, the locking of the battery is released and the battery can be removed from the electronic apparatus.
Since the battery locking mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-312214 is configured such that the unlocking member of the pushbutton type is disposed alongside the locking member, a large space is required for the arrangement of the mechanism. In recent years, further downsizing of electronic apparatus has been and is proceeding, and reducing the space of the internal structure is demanded. However, the battery locking mechanism disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-312214 cannot satisfy the demand.
The present invention has been made in view of such a point of view as just described, and it is an object of the present invention to make further downsizing of an electronic apparatus taking an arrangement configuration of a battery locking mechanism of the electronic apparatus into consideration.